Chapter 80: Everything

The living room fell silent.

For a moment, even Esther seemed caught off guard by the question, perhaps because she had grown so accustomed to Lumi lowering her head and accepting every accusation that she had forgotten her daughter was capable of questioning her.

Felix’s expression darkened. "Watch your mouth, Lumi Pei."

Lumi flinched at the warning, but the words that had been building inside her for so long refused to disappear this time, "I’m asking a question, Father."

"You dare question me now?"

"Then please explain it to me." Lumi took a shaky breath, looking from Felix to Esther. "You blamed me for not stopping Celestine from guiding Raphael, but wasn’t that her own decision? Why aren’t you blaming her for choosing to guide him instead of blaming me for failing to stop her? I didn’t even know I was supposed to stop her!"

Her voice trembled, yet she continued before either parent could interrupt her.

"What exactly was I supposed to do? Stop her from saving someone who was about to go into Rampage? Should I have dragged her away and let Raphael lose control instead?"

"That’s not what we’re saying!" Esther snapped.

"Then what are you saying, Mother?" Lumi asked, her eyes beginning to sting. "You keep telling me that I should have stopped her, but you never told me that was what you wanted! How was I supposed to know that you were planning to change her Fated Sentinel?"

Esther’s expression twisted with irritation, "Must everything be spelled out for you? You’re Celestine’s twin sister! You should have known what was best for her!"

Lumi stared at her mother in disbelief. "I’m her twin sister, not her keeper!"

The words escaped before she could stop them.

The moment they left her mouth, Lumi’s heart lurched. She had never spoken to Esther this way before, and the shocked expression on her mother’s face made her instinctively want to apologize. Yet the unfairness of the situation continued to gnaw at her, leaving her unable to take back what she had said.

"Lumi Pei!" Felix’s voice thundered through the living room. "Have you forgotten who you’re speaking to?"

Lumi’s shoulders tensed but she tried her best to stay calm under the pressure.

"No, Father," she answered quietly. "I haven’t forgotten."

"Then learn to show some respect!" Felix shouted through the living room.

"I am showing you respect... that’s what I’ve been showing you all through my life," Her voice grew softer, but she forced herself to meet his gaze. "I’m only asking why you’re blaming me for something Celestine chose to do herself."

Felix’s jaw tightened.

Esther let out an exasperated laugh, as though she could no longer believe the audacity of the daughter standing before her.

"You really are hopeless! Can’t you understand that your sister’s future is at stake? Raphael Valen is dangerous, and Celestine is far too precious for us to allow her to throw her life away on a man like him!"

"Then why don’t you talk to Celestine about it?" Lumi asked.

Esther fell silent for half a second.

Lumi glanced at her twin, who was still sitting on the sofa with her hands clenched tightly in her lap.

"She’s right here, isn’t she? If you’re worried about her future, why don’t you ask her what she wants? Why do you keep talking as though I’m the one who decided to become Raphael’s Guide?"

"Because you were supposed to help us!" Felix snapped. "We had everything planned, and you were supposed to make sure things didn’t get out of hand!"

Lumi blinked.

"Make sure things didn’t get out of hand?" she repeated slowly, looking from Felix to Esther. "Father... Mother... don’t you remember? I’m useless, aren’t I? I don’t even have Guiding energy. So why would you expect someone as useless as me to help you with something so important?"

Esther’s expression twisted with disgust.

"Listen to yourself! You still don’t understand what you’ve done wrong, do you? Instead of reflecting on your own shortcomings, you’re standing here arguing with us as though you’ve suddenly become someone who can stand above your own parents!"

Lumi’s lips parted, but before she could respond, Esther continued.

"If you hadn’t been so busy chasing after Evan Caesar, perhaps you would have paid more attention to your own sister! You knew Celestine was Raphael Valen’s Fated Guide, yet you didn’t even think to consider what might happen if she actually guided him!"

Lumi stared at her mother in disbelief.

How was she supposed to consider something she hadn’t even known her parents were trying to prevent?

"I didn’t know you wanted to change her Fated Sentinel," she protested. "You never told me anything about it!"

"And whose fault is that?" Felix demanded.

Lumi let out a disbelieving laugh, though there was no trace of amusement in her expression. Her eyes were already beginning to sting, and the familiar feeling of being wrong no matter what she did was pressing heavily against her chest.

"Me again?" she muttered, looking at Felix with an expression caught somewhere between disbelief and sadness. "What did I do...?"

She stomped her foot against the floor, unable to contain the frustration building inside her any longer.

"What did I do?!" Her voice rose, cracking slightly as she looked between her parents. "What exactly did I do wrong this time?!"

Felix’s expression turned livid. His face darkened with rage, and before anyone could react, he stepped forward, raising his hand as though he intended to slap the insolence out of his youngest daughter.

But this time, Lumi didn’t lower her head. She didn’t even move.

Instead, she looked straight at him, her teary eyes filled with so much hurt and resentment that, for a brief moment, Felix’s raised hand stopped in midair.

"Me..." Lumi began, her voice trembling uncontrollably. "Being born was wrong. Me... breathing is wrong. Me not having Guiding energy is wrong..."

Her lips quivered as tears finally spilled down her cheeks, but she refused to look away from her father.

"Everything I do is wrong, isn’t it, Father?"

Felix’s jaw tightened, "Lumi, you—"

"If I stay quiet, I’m wrong. If I speak, I’m wrong. If I try to help, I’m wrong. And if I don’t do anything, I’m still wrong!" Her voice cracked as she struggled to get the words out. "Even when Celestine makes her own decisions, somehow, it’s still my fault!"

She let out a small, broken laugh, shaking her head as though she couldn’t believe what she was saying, "Then tell me, Father... what exactly am I supposed to do?"

Felix stared at her, his raised hand still hovering between them.

Lumi swallowed hard, her chest rising and falling with uneven breaths. "Should I stop breathing? Would that finally make you happy?"

"Lumi!" Celestine shouted, immediately rising from the sofa.

But Lumi barely heard her.

Her eyes remained fixed on Felix, and despite the tears streaming down her face, she didn’t retreat.

"Because I really don’t know anymore..." she whispered. "I’ve tried so hard to be obedient. I’ve tried not to cause trouble. I’ve tried to stay out of everyone’s way because you always said I was useless, but somehow, no matter what happens in this family, you always find a way to make it my fault."

Her voice grew smaller. "Father... am I really that terrible of a daughter?"

For a moment, the only sound in the living room was Lumi’s uneven breathing.

Then Felix’s expression twisted with renewed anger.

"You ungrateful girl!" he roared. "After everything we’ve done for you, you dare stand there and accuse your own parents?!"

His hand remained raised, but Lumi no longer looked frightened of the slap itself.

"What exactly is ’everything’ you’ve done for me?"